Method and System for Utilizing a Gateway to Enable Peer-to-Peer Communications in Service Provider Networks

ABSTRACT

A broadband gateway may be operable to receive network topology information to enable peer-to-peer communications between a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. A communication link which may bypass core layer network components and/or resources for enabling the peer-to-peer communications between the first communication device and the second communication device may be established by the broadband gateway, based on the received network topology information, a location of the first communication device and a location of the second communication device. The broadband gateway may establish the communication link to enable the peer-to-peer communications by marking traffic such as by inserting QinQ tags into traffic between the first communication device and the second communication device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to, andclaims benefit from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/351,696,which was filed on Jun. 4, 2010.

This application also makes reference to:

-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,377 filed on Jan. 16, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,413 filed on Jan. 16, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,480 filed on Jan. 16, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/395,383 filed on Feb. 27, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23397US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23398US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23399US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23400US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23401US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23402US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23403US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23404US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23405US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23406US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23407US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23408US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23409US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23410US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23411US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23413US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23414US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23415US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23416US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23417US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23418US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23419US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23420US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23421US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23422US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23423US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23424US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23425US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23426US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23427US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23428US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23429US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23430US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23431US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23432US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23433US02) filed on ______;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23434US02) filed on ______; and-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No.    23435US02) filed on ______;

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication systems.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to amethod and system for utilizing a gateway to enable peer-to-peercommunications in service provider networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telecommunication technologies have evolved from analog to digitaltechnologies, and continues to evolve from circuit switched to packetswitched, from connection oriented packet switching to connectionlesspacket switching, and from narrow band application to broadbandapplications. The accompanied evolution in telecommunicationtechnologies has significantly advanced operators' capability to offerbroadband, IP-based multimedia services ranging from entertainment andlifestyle applications such as mobile TV and mobile payment toprofessional services such as video conferencing and real-time dataexchange.

With the continuous growth of digital television or broadcastmultimedia, and/or broadband access, which may be used in conjunctionwith online businesses, social networks, and/or other online servicesand applications, users may desire having access to a larger number ofproviders and/or a broader range of content in a manner that is flexibleand/or suits the users' lifestyles. Most users connect to the Internetusing web browsers running on personal computers (PCs). Furthermore,most households may have one or more display devices that may be used toview television and/or multimedia broadcasts. Television broadcasts mayinclude terrestrial TV, Cable-Television (CATV), satellite TV and/orInternet Protocol television (IPTV) based broadcasts. To ensure againstunauthorized reception and/or use of TV and/or multimedia broadcast,service providers may require use of dedicated equipments such asset-top boxes (STBs) that may be used to encrypt broadcast signalscommunicated from the service providers to generate suitable videoand/or audio streams that may be played via televisions and/or otherdisplay/playback devices in the household. Furthermore, STBs and/or TVsmay support Internet access. Thus, rather than using a computer toaccess the Internet, a user may find it more convenient to use the flatscreen televisions and/or monitors in home networks for the samepurpose.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth inthe remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for utilizing a gateway to enable peer-to-peercommunications in service provider networks, substantially as shown inand/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as setforth more completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention,as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be morefully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication systemthat is operable to utilize a gateway to enable peer-to-peercommunications in service provider networks, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary broadband gatewaythat is operable to enable peer-to-peer communications in serviceprovider networks, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3A-3B are block diagrams that illustrate exemplary peer-to-peercommunications, in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary QinQ tagged Ethernetframe, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for utilizing agateway to enable peer-to-peer communications in service providernetworks, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention can be found in a method and systemfor utilizing a gateway to enable peer-to-peer communications in serviceprovider networks. In various embodiments of the invention, a broadbandgateway, which handles at least one physical layer connection to atleast one corresponding network access service provider, may be operableto receive network topology information to enable peer-to-peercommunications between a first communication device and a secondcommunication device. In this regard, the first communication device maybe communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. A communicationlink which may bypass core layer network components and/or resources toenable the peer-to-peer communications between the first communicationdevice and the second communication device may be established by thebroadband gateway, based on the received network topology information, alocation of the first communication device and a location of the secondcommunication device. In this regard, the communication link to enablethe peer-to-peer communications may be established by marking trafficbetween the first communication device and the second communicationdevice. For example, the communication link may be established byinserting tags into traffic between the first communication device andthe second communication device. The network topology information may bereceived by the broadband gateway from one or more of the plurality ofnetwork access service providers and/or from one or more other broadbandgateways, for example. The peer-to-peer communications may comprise, forexample, content sharing, files sharing, video gaming and/or websitehosting.

The at least one physical layer connection may comprise, for example, aplurality of physical layer connections and the at least onecorresponding network access service provider may comprise a pluralityof corresponding network access service providers. In this regard, eachof the plurality of physical layer connections may correspond to arespective one of the plurality of corresponding network access serviceproviders.

In an embodiment of the invention, the second communication device mayalso be communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway. In thisregard, for example, the first communication device and the secondcommunication device may both be associated with the same network accessservice provider. In other instances, the first communication device maybe associated with a first network access service provider while thesecond communication device may be associated with a second networkaccess service provider, for example.

In another embodiment of the invention, the second communication devicemay be communicatively coupled to one of other broadband gateways. Inthis regard, for example, the first communication device and the secondcommunication device may both be associated with the same network accessservice provider. In other instances, the first communication device maybe associated with a first network access service provider while thesecond communication device may be associated with a second networkaccess service provider, for example.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication systemthat is operable to utilize a gateway to enable peer-to-peercommunications in service provider networks, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown acommunication system 100. The communication system 100 may comprise aplurality of broadband gateways of which broadband gateways 102, 103 areillustrated, a plurality of distribution networks 110, a plurality ofdevices 104 a-104 d, 105 a-105 d, which are collectively referred toherein as devices 104 and 105 respectively, a plurality of networkaccess service providers 120 of which network access service providers120 a-120 c are illustrated and a plurality of content providers 130 ofwhich content providers 130 a-130 c are illustrated. The devices 104a-104 d may be serviced by the broadband gateway 102. The devices 105a-105 d may be serviced by the broadband gateway 103.

A content provider such as the content provider 130 a may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto generate, capture and/or package content such as, for example,multimedia content that may be distributed to one or more of the devices104 a-104 d, 105 a-105 d via one or more of the network access serviceproviders 120 a-120 c and the corresponding broadband gateways 102, 103.The content may be, for example, downloadable or streaming, and/orrented or purchased.

A network access service provider such as the network access serviceprovider 120 a may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to provide services using different accesstechnologies to one or more of the devices 104 a-104 d, 105 a-105 d forend-users via the corresponding broadband gateways 102, 103. Theservices may include, but are not limited to, multimedia, television,Internet, phone, Ethernet, multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA), passiveoptical network (PON), and/or cellular services, for example. Thenetwork access service providers 120 may provide physical layerconnections to the broadband gateways 102, 103. Such physical layerconnections may then be utilized by the broadband gateways 102, 103 toaccess content provided by the content providers 130, to access servicesprovided by other service providers, and/or to access an intranet or theInternet at-large. In this regard, “network access service provider” asutilized herein, is distinguished from the more generic term “serviceprovider” which may encompass services other than providing physicallayer access. Cable television (CATV) providers, plain old telephoneservice (POTS) providers, digital subscriber line (DSL) providers,cellular service providers, WiMAX providers and/or satellite providersare examples of the network access service providers 120. In someinstances, a network access service provider such as the network accessservice provider 120 c may be a provider that provides both content andservices.

A broadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 102 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto provide an interface and connectivity between one or more of thedevices 104 a-104 d and one or more of the distribution networks 110.For example, the broadband gateway 102 may support configuring and/orusing a plurality of broadband connections 108 to the distributionnetworks 110. The broadband connections 108 may comprise wired and/orwireless connections between the broadband gateway 102 and thedistribution networks 110. In this regard, the broadband gateway 102 maybe operable to perform and/or provide various services that may pertainto enabling and/or facilitating reception of content such as multimediacontent from one or more of the content providers 130 a-130 c. Thecontent may be delivered through one or more of the network accessservice providers 120. The broadband gateway 102 may communicate withvarious devices 104 a-104 d using wired, optical and/or wirelesscommunication links 106. Similarly, the broadband gateway 103 maysupport configuring and/or using a plurality of broadband connections109 to the distribution networks 110. The broadband gateway 103 maycommunicate with various devices 105 a-105 d using wired, optical and/orwireless communication links 107.

A single broadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 102 may beoperable to handle a plurality of physical layer connections to thedistribution networks 110, where different ones or portions of thedistribution networks 110 may be owned, operated, leased or associatedwith different ones of the network access service providers 120. Aphysical layer may refer to an open systems interconnection (OSI)layer 1. In this regard, for example, a first network access serviceprovider such as network access the service provider 120 a may providenetwork access to the broadband gateway 102 via a DSL connection overtwisted-pair cabling, and a second network access service provider suchas the network access service provider 120 b may provide network accessto the broadband gateway 102 via a cable television connection overcoaxial cabling. In some instances, the broadband gateway 102 may beoperable to concurrently communicate over the plurality of physicallayer connections provided by the plurality of network access serviceproviders 120.

A broadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 102 may be located ata residential location such as a home. The broadband gateway 102 mayalso be located in non-residential location comprising, for example, acommercial building, an office, an office complex, an apartment buildingand/or a factory. While the broadband gateway 102 may be illustrated asa single and separate device in FIG. 1, the invention may not be solimited. In one embodiment of the invention, some functionalities of thebroadband gateway 102 may be implemented in a distributed manner overtwo or more devices locally and/or remotely. For example, some of thefunctionalities of the broadband gateway 102 may be implemented withinone of the televisions available in the home. Furthermore, the broadbandgateway 102 may be implemented as a virtual platform, for example.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the broadband gateway 102may be operable to receive network topology information which may beassociated with peer-to-peer communications between a firstcommunication device such as the device 104 a and a second communicationdevice through one or more of the distribution networks 110. The secondcommunication device may be, for example, a device such as the device104 b that is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway 102 or adevice such as the device 105 a that is communicatively coupled to otherbroadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 103. The broadbandgateway 102 may be operable to enable a communication link, which may bea path that bypasses core layer network components and/or resources, forthe peer-to-peer communications between the first communication devicesuch as the device 104 a and the second communication device such as thedevice 105 a. The communication link may be established by the broadbandgateway 102 based on the received network topology information, alocation or address of the first communication device 104 a and alocation or address of the second communication device such as thedevice 105 a. The broadband gateway 102 may mark traffic between thefirst communication device 104 a and the second communication devicesuch as the device 105 a for establishing the communication link. Forexample, the broadband gateway 102 may insert tags into the trafficbetween the first communication device 104 a and the secondcommunication device such as the device 105 a for establishing thecommunication link.

A device such as the device 104 a may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to interact withthe broadband gateway 102. The devices 104 a-104 d serviced by, and/orconnected with the broadband gateway 102 may comprise content consumingdevices and/or non-content consuming household devices. For example, thedevices 104 may comprise a television, a set-top box (STB), a laptopcomputer, a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector, a securityalarm, a desk top computer and/or server, a mobile phone, a speaker, anAM/FM radio, a phone, and/or an appliance such as a refrigerator. Thedevices 104 a-104 d may interact with the broadband gateway 102 via thelinks 106 utilizing various wired and/or wireless communicationtechnologies such as, for example, Bluetooth, LTE, WiFi and/or Ethernet.Similarly, the devices 105 a-105 d may interact with the broadbandgateway 103 via the links 107 utilizing various wired and/or wirelesscommunication technologies.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a first communicationdevice such as the device 104 a and a second communication device suchas the device 104 b may both be associated with the same network accessservice provider such as the network access service provider 120 a. Inother instances, the device 104 a may be associated with a first networkaccess service provider such as the network access service provider 120a while the device 104 b may be associated with a second network accessservice provider such as the network access service provider 120 b, forexample.

In another embodiment of the invention, a first communication devicesuch as the device 104 a and a second communication device such as thedevice 105 a, which are communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway103, may both be associated with the same network access serviceprovider such as the network access service provider 120 a. In otherinstances, the device 104 a may be associated with a first networkaccess service provider such as the network access service provider 120a while the device 105 a may be associated with a second network accessservice provider such as the network access service provider 120 c, forexample.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1,although the devices 104 a-104 d communicate with only the broadbandgateway 102 as shown and the devices 105 a-105 d communicate with onlythe broadband gateway 103 as shown, the invention may not be so limited.Accordingly, the devices 104 a-104 d may communicate with multiplebroadband gateways in a local or home network and the devices 105 a-105d may communicate with multiple broadband gateways in a local or homenetwork without departing from the spirit and scope of variousembodiments of the invention.

The distribution networks 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,communication devices, interfaces and/or code that may be operable toenable wireless and/or wired communication among a plurality of localand/or remote entities, based on one or more networking and/orcommunication infrastructures. In this regard, one or more of thedistribution networks 110 may be utilized to enable distribution ofcontent such as multimedia content generated by one or more of thecontent providers 130 a-130 c, via one or more of the network accessservice providers 120 a-120 c, to one or more of the devices 104 a-104d, 105 a-105 d. The network connectivity available via the distributionnetworks 110 may be based on one or more communication standards and/orprotocols. The distribution networks 110 may comprise, for example,Internet, cable television (CATV) network, satellite television (TV)network, wired or wireless local area network (LAN), wired or wirelesswide area network (WAN), personal area network (PAN) and/or cellularnetwork.

A network topology associated with the distribution networks 110 maycomprise an access layer 110 a, an aggregation layer 110 b and a corelayer 110 c. The access layer 110 a may provide connections for end usercommunication devices such as the broadband gateways 102, 103 to theaggregation layer 110 b. The access layer 110 a may comprise repeaters,hubs and/or LAN switches, for example. The access layer 110 a may ensurethat packets are properly delivered to the end user communicationdevices such as the devices 104 a-104 d, 105 a-105 d, The aggregationlayer 110 b may provide connections between the access layer 110 a andthe core layer 110 c. The aggregation layer 110 b may comprise layer 2and/or layer 3 network components such as layer 2 switches, layer 3switches, multilayer switches and/or LAN routers, for example. Theaggregation layer 110 b may ensure that packets are properly routed totheir destinations. The core layer 110 a may be considered the backboneof the distribution networks 110 and may comprise high-sped networkcomponents and/or resources such as, for example, high-speed switches,routers, multiplexers and/or other high-speed communication devices. Thecore layer 110 c may ensure that packets are reliably delivered withhigh speed.

In operation, a broadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 102 maybe operable to handle a plurality of physical layer connections to aplurality of corresponding network access service providers such as thenetwork access services providers 120 a, 120 b. The broadband gateway102 may be operable to receive network topology information to enablepeer-to-peer communications between a first communication device such asthe device 104 a and a second communication device through one or moreof the distribution networks 110. The second communication device maybe, for example, a device such as the device 104 b that iscommunicatively coupled to the broadband gateway 102 or a device such asthe device 105 a that is communicatively coupled to other broadbandgateway such as the broadband gateway 103. The network topologyinformation may comprise, for example, at least a portion of physicallayer properties that may be associated with network components and/orresources in the hierarchical network topology including access layer110 a, aggregation layer 110 b and core layer 110 c. In this regard, forexample, the physical layer properties may comprise physicalinterconnections such as passive optical network (PON) interconnectionsassociated with the network components and/or resources. A PON is apoint-to-multipoint fiber interconnection architecture. A PONconfiguration may reduce the amount of fiber and associated equipmentsrequired compared with point-to-point architectures.

The broadband gateway 102 may receive the network topology informationfrom, for example, one or more of the plurality of network accessservice providers 120 a, 120 b and/or one or more other broadbandgateways such as the broadband gateway 103. In this regard, for example,the network topology information may be pushed down automatically by anetwork access service provider such as the network access serviceprovider 120 a to the broadband gateway 102. The broadband gateway 102may send a request to a network access service provider such as thenetwork access service provider 120 b so as to receive the networktopology information from the network access service provider 120 b, forexample. The broadband gateway 102 may learn at least a portion of thenetwork topology information from one or more network components such asswitches in the distribution networks 110 that may be associated withone or more network access service providers 120 a-120 c, for example.The network topology information pertaining to a network access serviceprovider such as the network access service provider 120 c which may beassociated with the broadband gateway 103 may be obtained through thebroadband gateway 103, for example. The peer-to-peer communicationsbetween the first communication device such as the 104 a and the secondcommunication device such as the device 105 a may comprise, for example,sharing content such as multimedia content, sharing files such as datafiles, playing online video games and/or providing website services.

The broadband gateway 102 may be operable to establish a communicationlink which may bypass core layer network components and/or resources forenabling the peer-to-peer communications between the first communicationdevice such as the device 104 a and the second communication device suchas the device 105 a, based on the received network topology information,a location or address of the device 104 a and a location or address ofthe device 105 a. The location or address information associated withthe device 104 a and the device 105 a may be provided by users of thedevice 104 a and/or the device 105 a. In this regard, the communicationlink, which is a peer-to-peer communication link, may be established insuch a way that network resource usage, channel bandwidth usage and/orlatency may be reduced during the peer-to-peer communications betweenthe device 104 a and the device 105 a. For example, the device 104 a maywant to share content with the device 105 a. Without the peer-to-peercommunication link that may be established by the broadband gateway 102,the content may travel from the device 104 a through network componentsand/or resources in the access layer 110 a, the aggregation layer 110 band all the way up in the core layer 110 c, and then travel back down tothe device 105 a through the network components and/or resources in thecore layer 110 c, the aggregation layer 110 b and the access layer 110a. Based on the location or address information associated with thedevice 104 a and the device 105 a, the device 104 a and the device 105 amay be close to each other in the same region or neighborhood, forexample. Based on the received network topology information, apeer-to-peer communication link or path between the device 104 a and thedevice 105 a within the aggregation layer 110 b and/or the access layer110 a may be established without utilizing the network components and/orresources in the core layer 110 c. With this peer-to-peer communicationlink that may be established by the broadband gateway 102, the contentmay travel among network components such as switches in the aggregationlayer 110 b and/or the access layer 110 a without traveling through thenetwork components and/or resources in the core layer 110 c.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the broadband gateway 102may established the communication link to enable the peer-to-peercommunications by marking traffic between the first communication devicesuch as the device 104 a and the second communication device such as thedevice 105 a. The marking or tagging may be done utilizing, for example,the IEEE 802.1 QinQ specification. For example, the communication linkmay be established by inserting tags such as, QinQ tags 140 into thetraffic between the device 104 a and the device 105 a. The IEEE 802.1QinQ specification allows two or more tags (a tag stack) to be insertedinto a single network frame such as an Ethernet frame. A double-taggedframe may comprise an inner tag and an outer tag. The outer tag may beused to identify and/or segregate traffic from different entities whilethe inner tag may be preserved from the original frame. In this regard,for example, based on the network topology information and the addressesassociated with the device 104 a and the device 105 a, a frame in thetraffic that is communicated between the device 104 a and the device 105a may be marked or tagged in such a way that as a network component suchas a switch in the access layer 110 a and/or the aggregation layer 110 breads the tag in the frame, the network component or switch knows whereto direct the frame to in the access layer 110 a and/or the aggregationlayer 110 b.

In instances when a network component such as, for example, a layer 2switch in the aggregation layer 110 b becomes unavailable during apeer-to-peer communication, the tagged frames may be routed to one ormore other available network components so as to maintain thepeer-to-peer communication. In such an instance, the other availablenetwork component(s) may comprise, for example, a layer 2 switch and/ora layer 3 switch in the aggregation layer 110 b.

In an embodiment of the invention, the second communication device maybe a device such as the device 104 b that is also communicativelycoupled to the broadband gateway 102. In this regard, for example, thefirst communication device such as the device 104 a and the secondcommunication device such as the device 104 b may both be associatedwith the same network access service provider such as the network accessservice provider 120 a during the peer-to-peer communications. In otherinstances, during the peer-to-peer communications, the device 104 a maybe associated with a first network access service provider such as thenetwork access service provider 120 a while the device 104 b may beassociated with a second network access service provider such as thenetwork access service provider 120 b, for example.

In another embodiment of the invention, the second communication devicemay be a device such as the device 105 a that is communicatively coupledto one of other broadband gateways such as the broadband gateway 103. Inthis regard, for example, the first communication device such as thedevice 104 a and the second communication device such as the device 105a may both be associated with the same network access service providersuch as the network access service provider 120 a during thepeer-to-peer communications. In other instances, during the peer-to-peercommunications, the device 104 a may be associated with a first networkaccess service provider such as the network access service provider 120a while the device 105 a may be associated with a second network accessservice provider such as the network access service provider 120 c, forexample.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary broadband gatewaythat is operable to enable peer-to-peer communications in serviceprovider networks, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a broadband gateway 200. Thebroadband gateway 200 may be substantially similar to the broadbandgateway 102 in FIG. 1. The broadband gateway 200 may comprise a providerinterface module 202, a processor 204, a memory 206, a client deviceinterface module 208 and a P2P module 210.

The provider interface module 202 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to receive datafrom one or more network access service providers 220 a-220 b. Theprovider interface module 202 may also be operable to send data to oneor more network access service providers 220 a-220 b. The providerinterface module 202 may be operable to support multiple communicationprotocols, standards, and/or data transport technologies. The providerinterface module 202 may be communicatively coupled to one or morenetwork access service providers 220 a-220 b via one or more physicallayer connections 230 a-230 b. In this regard, each of the physicallayer connections 230 a-230 b may connect the broadband gateway 200 toone of different network access service providers 220 a-220 b. Each ofthe physical layer connections 230 a-230 b may comprise a wired, opticaland/or wireless connection. For example, the physical layer connection230 a may comprise a DSL over twisted-pair connection while the physicallayer connection 230 b may comprise a CATV over coaxial cableconnection.

The processor 204 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to process data received from thenetwork access service providers 220 a-220 b and/or the contentproviders 130 a-130 c and/or data received from one or more of thedevices 104 a-104 d. In this regard, the processor 204 may comprise oneor more portions that are suitable to handle certain types of data suchas video data and/or audio data, for example.

The P2P module 210 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to various functions for enablingand/or supporting peer-to-peer communications. In an exemplaryembodiment of the invention, the P2P module 210 may be operable toreceive network topology information which may enable peer-to-peercommunications between a first communication device such as the device104 a and a second communication device. The second communication devicemay be, for example, a device such as the device 104 b that iscommunicatively coupled to the broadband gateway 200 or a device such asthe device 105 a that is communicatively coupled to other broadbandgateway such as the broadband gateway 103. The P2P module 210 may beoperable to establish a communication link, which may comprise acommunication path that bypasses core layer network components and/orresources. The established communication path may enable peer-to-peercommunications between the first communication device such as the device104 a and the second communication device such as the device 105 a. Thecommunication link may be established by the P2P module 210 based on thereceived network topology information, a location or address of thedevice 104 a and a location or address of the device 105 a. The P2Pmodule 210 may mark traffic between the device 104 a and the device 105a using, for example, QinQ tags 140 for establishing the communicationlink for efficient peer-to-peer communications.

The memory 206 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to store data utilized in the operations ofthe broadband gateway 200. For example, the memory 206 may be utilizedto store configuration data, parameters, device information, trackingand/or monitoring information, security information, and intermediateprocessing data, for example. The memory 206 may comprise storage mediaintegrated in the broadband gateway 200 and/or a removable storagedevice.

The client device interface module 208 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to send data toone or more of the devices such as the devices 104 a-104 d in a local orhome network. The client device interface module 208 may also beoperable to receive data from one or more of the devices 104 a-104 d inthe local or home network. The client device interface module 208 may beoperable to support multiple communication protocols, standards, and/ordata transport technologies.

In operation, a broadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 200 mayprovide connections and/or interfaces for various devices such as thedevices 140 a-140 d to distribution networks such as the distributionnetworks 110. A P2P module 210 in the broadband gateway 200 may beoperable to receive information network topology information that mayenable peer-to-peer communications between a first communication devicesuch as the device 104 a and a second communication device. The secondcommunication device may be, for example, a device such as the device104 b that is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway 200 or adevice such as the device 105 a that is communicatively coupled to otherbroadband gateway such as the broadband gateway 103. The networktopology information may comprise at least a portion of physical layerproperties such as, for example, PON interconnections associated withnetwork components and/or resources in the hierarchical network topologywith access layer, aggregation layer and core layer. The processor 204may receive the network topology information from, for example, one ormore of the plurality of network access service providers 220 a-220 band/or one or more other broadband gateways such as the broadbandgateway 103.

The P2P module 210 may be operable to establish a communication link orpath which may bypass core layer network components and/or resources toenable the peer-to-peer communications between the first communicationdevice such as the device 104 a and the second communication device suchas the device 105 a, based on the received the network topologyinformation, a location or address of the device 104 a and a location oraddress of the device 105 a. For example, the device 104 a may want tosend a video file to the device 105 a. Without the peer-to-peercommunication link that may be established by the P2P module 210, thevideo file may travel from the device 104 a through network componentsand/or resources in the access layer such as the access layer 110 a, theaggregation layer such as the aggregation layer 110 b and all the way upin the core layer such as the core layer 110 c, and then travel backdown to the device 105 a through the network components and/or resourcesin the core layer 110 c, the aggregation layer 110 b and the accesslayer 110 a. With the established peer-to-peer communication link, thevideo file may be delivered among network components such as switches inthe aggregation layer 110 b and/or the access layer 110 a withouttravelling through the network components and/or resources in the corelayer 110 c.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the P2P module 210 mayestablish the communication link to enable the peer-to-peercommunications by marking traffic between the first communication devicesuch as the device 104 a and the second communication device such as thedevice 105 a. For example, the P2P module 210 may establish thecommunication link by inserting tags such as, QinQ tags 140 into thetraffic between the device 104 a and the device 105 a. In this regard,for example, a frame of a shared video file in the traffic between thedevice 104 a and the device 105 a may be tagged with QinQ tags 140 bythe processor 204 in such a way that as a network component such as aswitch in the access layer 110 a and/or the aggregation layer 110 breads the tag in the frame, the network component or switch knows whereto direct the frame to in the access layer 110 a and/or the aggregationlayer 110 b.

FIGS. 3A-3B are block diagrams that illustrate exemplary peer-to-peercommunications, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Thesescenarios are provided by way of exemplary illustration and not oflimitation. Referring to each of FIGS. 3A-3B, there is shown ahierarchical network topology 300. The hierarchical network topology 300may comprise an access layer 310, an aggregation layer 320 and a corelayer 330. The access layer 310 may be substantially similar to theaccess layer 110 a in FIG. 1. The aggregation layer 320 may besubstantially similar to the aggregation layer 110 b in FIG. 1. The corelayer 330 may be substantially similar to the core layer 110 c in FIG.1.

The access layer 310 may comprise a plurality of devices of whichdevices 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, 304 d, 305 a, 305 b, 305 c, 305 d areillustrated, a plurality of gateways of which broadband gateways 302 a,302 b, 303 a, 303 b are illustrated and a plurality of access layernetwork components of which switches 306, 307 are illustrated. Theswitch 306 may communicate with a plurality of broadband gateways suchas the broadband gateways 302 a, 302 b. The switch 307 may communicatewith a plurality of broadband gateways such as the broadband gateways303 a, 303 b. The devices 304 a, 304 b may be serviced by the broadbandgateway 302 a. The devices 304 c, 304 d may be serviced by the broadbandgateway 302 b. The devices 305 a, 305 b may be serviced by the broadbandgateway 303 a. The devices 305 c, 305 d may be serviced by the broadbandgateway 303 b. The access layer 310 may provide connections for thebroadband gateways 302 a, 302 b, 303 a, 303 b to the aggregation layer320. The access layer 310 may ensure that packets are properly deliveredto the devices 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, 304 d, 305 a, 305 b, 305 c, 305 d.

The aggregation layer 320 may comprise a plurality of interconnectedlayer 2 and/or layer 3 network components of which layer 2 switches 312a, 313 a and layer 3 switches 312 b, 313 b are illustrated. The networkcomponents such as the layer 2 switches 312 a, 313 a and/or the layer 3switches 312 b, 313 b in the aggregation layer 320 may provideconnections between the access layer 310 and the core layer 330. Theaggregation layer 320 may ensure that packets are properly routed totheir destinations.

The core layer 330 may comprise a plurality of high-speed networkcomponents and/or resources of which routers 322, 323 and a networkcloud 324 are illustrated. The network cloud 324 may comprise, forexample, an Internet cloud. The network cloud 324 may be associated withone or more network access service providers such as the network accessservice providers 120. The core layer 330 may comprise other networkcomponents such as, for example, high-speed switches and/or multiplexers(not shown). The core layer 330 may provide connections for theaggregation layer 320 to, for example, various servers (not shown)associated with corresponding network access service providers such asthe network access service providers 120 and/or corresponding contentproviders such as the content providers 130. The core layer 330 mayensure that packets are reliably delivered with high speed.

FIG. 3A illustrates scenarios in which the broadband gateway 302 a maybe operable to establish communication links that may bypass core layernetwork components and resources such as the routers 332, 323 and thenetwork cloud 324 for enabling peer-to-peer communications between thedevice 304 a and the device 304 b and/or between the device 304 a andthe device 304 c. The devices 304 a, 304 b may be substantially similarto the devices 104 in FIG. 1. The devices 304 c, 304 d may besubstantially similar to the devices 105 in FIG. 1. The broadbandgateway 302 a may be substantially similar to the broadband gateway 102in FIG. 1. The broadband gateway 302 b may be substantially similar tothe broadband gateway 103 in FIG. 1. In this regard, for example, apeer-to-peer communication link such as the communication link 30, whichmay comprise access layer network components and/or resources such asthe switch 306, may be established between the device 304 a and thedevice 304 b. Without the established communication link such as thecommunication link 30, the packets for the peer-to-peer communicationsbetween the device 304 a and the device 304 b would have to travel viathe communication link 32 which may comprise network components and/orresources in the access layer 310, the aggregation layer 320 and thecore layer 330. A peer-to-peer communication link such as thecommunication link 31, which may comprise access layer networkcomponents and/or resources such as the switch 306, may also beestablished. Without the established communication link such as thecommunication link 31, the packets for the peer-to-peer communicationsbetween the device 304 a and the device 304 c would have to travel viathe communication link 36 which may comprise network components and/orresources in the access layer 310, the aggregation layer 320 and thecore layer 330. In this regard, the communication link 30 is a shortpeer-to-peer communication link which is shorter than the communicationlink 32. The communication link 31 is a short peer-to-peer communicationlink which is shorter than the communication link 36.

FIG. 3B illustrates a scenario in which the broadband gateway 302 a maybe operable to establish a communication link which may bypass corelayer network components and resources such as the routers 332, 323 andthe network cloud 324 for enabling peer-to-peer communications betweenthe device 304 a and the device 305 a. The devices 304 a, 304 b may besubstantially similar to the devices 104 in FIG. 1. The devices 305 a,305 b may be substantially similar to the devices 105 in FIG. 1. Thebroadband gateway 302 a may be substantially similar to the broadbandgateway 102 in FIG. 1. The broadband gateway 303 a may be substantiallysimilar to the broadband gateway 103 in FIG. 1. In this regard, forexample, a peer-to-peer communication link such as the communicationlink 33 which may comprise access layer network components and/orresources such as the switches 306, 307 and aggregation layer networkcomponents and/or resources such as the layer 2 switches 312 a, 313 amay be established. A peer-to-peer communication link such as thecommunication link 34 which may comprise access layer network componentsand/or resources such as the switches 306, 307 and aggregation layernetwork components and/or resources such as the layer 2 switches 312 a,313 a and the layer 3 switches 312 b, 313 b may also be established.Without the established communication link such as the communicationlink 33 or the communication link 34, the packets for the peer-to-peercommunications between the device 304 a and the device 305 a would haveto travel via the communication link 35 which may comprise networkcomponents and/or resources in the access layer 310, the aggregationlayer 320 and the core layer 330. In this regard, the communication link33 or the communication 34 is a short peer-to-peer communication linkwhich is shorter than the communication link 35.

In the exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIGS.3A-3B, the established peer-to-peer communication links such as thecommunication links 30, 31, 33, 34 are shown, the two switches 306, 307in the access layer 310 are shown, the two layer 2 switches 312 a, 313 aand the two layer 3 switches 312 b, 313 b in the aggregation layer 320are shown, and the two routers 322, 323 in the core layer 330 are shown.Notwithstanding, the invention may not be so limited. Other establishedpeer-to-peer communication links and/or other network components in thecorresponding access layer 310, aggregation layer 320 and the core layer330 may be illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope ofvarious embodiments of the invention. The devices 304 a-304 b maycommunicate with multiple broadband gateways in a local or home network,the devices 304 c-304 d may communicate with multiple broadband gatewaysin a local or home network, the devices 305 a-305 b may communicate withmultiple broadband gateways in a local or home network, and the devices305 c-305 d may communicate with multiple broadband gateways in a localor home network without departing from the spirit and scope of variousembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary QinQ tagged Ethernetframe, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 4, there is shown an Ethernet frame 400 with an inserted QinQ tag406. The Ethernet frame 400 may comprise a plurality of fields of whicha destination MAC address 402, a source MAC address 404, a QinQ tag 406,an ethertype 408, a payload 410 and a frame check sequence (FCS) 412 areillustrated.

The destination MAC address 402 may comprise information that may beutilized to identify the destination network node such as the device 305a that the Ethernet frame 400 is to be sent to. The source MAC address404 may comprise information that may be utilized to identify the sourcenetwork node such as the device 304 a that originated the packet. Theethertype 408 may be utilized to identify the type and/or nature of thedata which comprises the payload 410. The payload 410 may contain thedata being transmitted. The FCS 412 may comprise, for example, a CRC ora checksum.

The inserted QinQ tag 406 is a double tag which may comprise an outertag 414 and an inner tag 416. The outer tag 414 may comprise a tagprotocol identifier (TPID) 414 a, a priority code point (PCP) 414 b, acanonical format indicator (CFI) 414 c and a VLAN Identifier (VID) 414d. The inner tag 416 may also comprise a TPID 416 a, a PCP 416 b, a CFI416 c and a VID 416 d. The inner tag 416 may be preserved from theoriginal frame. The outer tag 414 may be inserted, for example, by anetwork node such as the broadband gateway 302 a. In this regard, theouter tag 414 may be utilized to identify the frame that may be routedthrough a peer-to-peer communication link such as the communication link33 for enabling peer-to-peer communications between the device 304 a andthe device 305 a, for example.

A TPID field, such as the TPID 414 a, may comprise a numericalidentifier, similar to or the same as an ethertype, which may indicatethe frame 400 as an IEEE 802.1 Q-tagged frame. A TPID field such as theTPID 414 a or the TPID 416 a may be considered as a sub-type identifierin addition to the ethertype 408. The TPID 416 a of the inner tag 416may be set to an exemplary value of 0x8100. The TPID 414 a of the outertag 414 may be set to an alternate value such as 0x9100, for example.

A PCP field, such as the PCP 414 b, may indicate the frame prioritylevel from lowest to highest, which may be used to prioritize differentclasses of traffic. The different classes of traffic may comprise, forexample, voice, video and/or data.

A CFI field, such as the CFI 414 c, may be used to provide compatibilitybetween, for example, Ethernet and token ring networks. If the value ofthis field is 1, the MAC address is in non-canonical format. If thevalue of this field is 0, the MAC address is in canonical format. Inthis regard, for example, the value of the CFI 414 c may be set to 0 forEthernet switches. In other instances, a CFI field such as the CFI 414 cmay be used for non-Ethernet based networks such as, for example, coaxbased media.

A VID field, such as the VID 414 d, may specify the VLAN to which theframe 400 belongs. For example, a value of 0 in this field may indicatethat the frame 400 does not belong to any VLAN.

In an exemplary operation, when an QinQ tagged frame such as the frame400 arrives at a network component associated with the communicationlink 33, the QinQ tag 406 may be parsed by the network component. Afterparsing the QinQ tag 406, the network component may be operable todirect the frame 400 to the next available network components throughthe communication link 33 for enabling the peer-to-peer communicationsbetween the device 304 a and the device 305 a, for example.

Although a QinQ tagged Ethernet frame 400 is illustrated in FIG. 4, theinvention may not be so limited. Accordingly, other types of tags may beutilized and illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope ofvarious embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for utilizing agateway to enable peer-to-peer communications in service providernetworks, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referringto FIG. 5, the exemplary steps start at step 501. In step 502, thebroadband gateway 102 may be operable to identify a location or addressof a first communication device and a location or address of a secondcommunication device for peer-to-peer communications between the firstcommunication device and the second communication device. The firstcommunication device such as the device 104 a is communicatively coupledto the broadband gateway 102. The second communication device may be thedevice 104 b that is communicatively coupled to the broadband gateway102 or the device 105 a that is communicatively coupled to the otherbroadband gateway 103, for example. In step 503, the broadband gateway102 may be operable to receive network topology information for enablingpeer-to-peer communications between the first communication device suchas the device 104 a and the second communication device such as, forexample, the device 105 a. The network topology information may bereceived by the broadband gateway 102 from one or more network accessservice providers 120 a, 120 b and/or from one or more other broadbandgateways such as the broadband gateway 103. For example, the networktopology information may be pushed down automatically by a networkaccess service provider such as the network access service provider 120a to the broadband gateway 102. The broadband gateway 102 may send arequest to a network access service provider such as the network accessservice provider 120 b so as to receive the network topology informationfrom the network access service provider 120 b, for example. Thebroadband gateway 102 may learn at least a portion of the networktopology information from one or more network components such asswitches in the distribution networks 110 that may be associated withone or more network access service providers 120 a-120 c, for example.The network topology information pertaining to a network access serviceprovider such as the network access service provider 120 c which may beassociated with the broadband gateway 103 may be obtained through thebroadband gateway 103, for example.

In step 504, the broadband gateway 102 may be operable to insert tagssuch as QinQ tags 140 into traffic that is communicated between thefirst communication device such as the device 104 a and the secondcommunication device such as the device 105 a, based on the receivednetwork topology information, the location or address of the firstcommunication device such as the device 104 a and the location oraddress of the second communication device such as the device 105 a. Inthis regard, the inserted QinQ tags 140 in the traffic may enable thepeer-to-peer communications between the first communication device suchas the device 304 a and the second communication device such as thedevice 305 a, and the traffic may bypass core layer network componentsand/or resources such as the routers 322, 323, as illustrated by apeer-to-peer communication link such as the communication link 33, forexample. The exemplary steps may proceed to the end step 505.

In various embodiments of the invention, a broadband gateway 102, 200may handle at least one physical layer connection to at least onecorresponding network access service provider. In this regard, forexample, the at least one physical layer connection may comprise, forexample, a plurality of physical layer connections 230 a-230 b and theat least one corresponding network access service provider may comprisea plurality of corresponding network access service providers 220 a-220b. Each of the plurality of physical layer connections 230 a-230 b maycorrespond to a respective one of the plurality of corresponding networkaccess service providers 220 a-20 b.

The broadband gateway 102 may be operable to receive network topologyinformation that may enable peer-to-peer communications between a firstcommunication device and a second communication device through thedistribution networks 110. In this regard, the first communicationdevice may be a device such as the device 104 a that is communicativelycoupled to the broadband gateway 102. The second communication devicemay be, for example, a device such as the device 104 b that iscommunicatively coupled to the broadband gateway 102 or a device such asthe device 105 a that is communicatively coupled to other broadbandgateway such as the broadband gateway 103.

The broadband gateway 302 a may establish a communication link such asthe communication link 30 or the communication link 33, which may bypasscore layer network components and/or resources such as the routers 322,323 and the network cloud 324 to enable the peer-to-peer communicationsbetween the first communication device such as the device 304 a and thesecond communication device such as the device 304 b or the device 305a. The broadband gateway 302 a may establish the peer-to-peercommunication link such as the communication link 33 based on thereceived network topology information, a location of the firstcommunication device such as the device 304 a and a location of thesecond communication device such as the device 305 a. In this regard,the peer-to-peer communication link such as the communication link 33for enabling the peer-to-peer communications may be established bymarking traffic between the first communication device such as thedevice 304 a and the second communication device such as the device 305a. For example, the communication link 33 may be established byinserting tags into traffic that may be communicated between the firstcommunication device such as the device 104 a and the secondcommunication device such as the device 305 a. The network topologyinformation may be received by the broadband gateway 302 a from one ormore of the plurality of network access service providers such as thenetwork access service providers 120 a, 120 b and/or from one or moreother broadband gateways such as the broadband gateway 303 a, forexample. The peer-to-peer communications may comprise, for example,content sharing, files sharing, video gaming and/or website hosting.

In an embodiment of the invention, the second communication device maybe a device such as the device 104 b that is also communicativelycoupled to the broadband gateway 102. In this regard, for example, thefirst communication device such as the device 104 a and the secondcommunication device such as the device 104 b may both be associatedwith the same network access service provider such as the network accessservice provider 120 a during the peer-to-peer communications. In otherinstances, the first communication device such as the device 104 a maybe associated with a first network access service provider such as thenetwork access service provider 120 a while the second communicationdevice such as the device 104 b may be associated with a second networkaccess service provider such as the network access service provider 120b, for example.

In another embodiment of the invention, the second communication devicemay be a device such as the device 105 a that is communicatively coupledto one of other broadband gateways such as the broadband gateway 103. Inthis regard, for example, the first communication device such as thedevice 104 a and the second communication device such as the device 105a may both be associated with the same network access service providersuch as the network access service provider 120 a during thepeer-to-peer communications. In other instances, the first communicationdevice such as the device 104 a may be associated with a first networkaccess service provider such as the network access service provider 120a while the second communication device such as the device 105 a may beassociated with a second network access service provider such as thenetwork access service provider 120 c, for example.

Other embodiments of the invention may provide a non-transitory computerreadable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitory machinereadable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, a machinecode and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for utilizing agateway to enable peer-to-peer communications in service providernetworks.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements arespread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for communication, the method comprising: in a broadbandgateway that is operable to handle at least one physical layerconnection to at least one corresponding network access serviceprovider: receiving network topology information to enable peer-to-peercommunications between a first communication device and a secondcommunication device, wherein said first communication device iscommunicatively coupled to said broadband gateway; and establishing acommunication link which bypasses core layer network components and/orresources to enable said peer-to-peer communications between said firstcommunication device and said second communication device, based on saidreceived network topology information, a location of said firstcommunication device and a location of said second communication device.2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said at least one physicallayer connection comprises a plurality of physical layer connections andsaid at least one corresponding network access service providercomprises a plurality of corresponding network access service providers,and each of said plurality of physical layer connections corresponds toa respective one of said plurality of corresponding network accessservice providers.
 3. The method according to claim 1, comprisingestablishing said communication link to enable said peer-to-peercommunications by marking traffic between said first communicationdevice and said second communication device.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, comprising establishing said communication link to enable saidpeer-to-peer communications by inserting tags into traffic between saidfirst communication device and said second communication device.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising receiving said network topologyinformation from one or more of said plurality of network access serviceproviders and/or from one or more other broadband gateways.
 6. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein: said second communication deviceis communicatively coupled to said broadband gateway; and said firstcommunication device and said second communication device are bothassociated with a same network access service provider.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: said second communication device iscommunicatively coupled to one of other broadband gateways; and saidfirst communication device and said communication second device are bothassociated with a same network access service provider.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein: said first communication device isassociated with a first network access service provider; and said secondcommunication device, which is communicatively coupled to said broadbandgateway, is associated with a second network access service provider. 9.The method according to claim 1, wherein: said first communicationdevice is associated with a first network access service provider; andsaid second communication device, which is communicatively coupled toone of other broadband gateways, is associated with a second networkaccess service provider.
 10. The method according to claim 1, whereinsaid peer-to-peer communications comprise content sharing, filessharing, video gaming and/or website hosting.
 11. A system forcommunication, the system comprising: one or more processors and/orcircuits for use in a broadband gateway, said broadband gateway beingoperable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at leastone corresponding network access service provider, and said one or moreprocessors and/or circuits being operable to: receive network topologyinformation to enable peer-to-peer communications between a firstcommunication device and a second communication device, wherein saidfirst communication device is communicatively coupled to said broadbandgateway; and establish a communication link which bypasses core layernetwork components and/or resources to enable said peer-to-peercommunications between said first communication device and said secondcommunication device, based on said received network topologyinformation, a location of said first communication device and alocation of said second communication device.
 12. The system accordingto claim 11, wherein said at least one physical layer connectioncomprises a plurality of physical layer connections and said at leastone corresponding network access service provider comprises a pluralityof corresponding network access service providers, and each of saidplurality of physical layer connections corresponds to a respective oneof said plurality of corresponding network access service providers. 13.The system according to claim 11, wherein said one or more processorsand/or circuits are operable to establish said communication link toenable said peer-to-peer communications by marking traffic between saidfirst communication device and said second communication device.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 11, wherein said one or more processors and/orcircuits are operable to establish said communication link to enablesaid peer-to-peer communications by inserting tags into traffic betweensaid first communication device and said second communication device.15. The system according to claim 11, wherein said one or moreprocessors and/or circuits are operable to receive said network topologyinformation from one or more of said plurality of network access serviceproviders and/or from one or more other broadband gateways.
 16. Thesystem according to claim 11, wherein: said second communication deviceis communicatively coupled to said broadband gateway; and said firstcommunication device and said second communication device are bothassociated with a same network access service provider.
 17. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein: said second communication device iscommunicatively coupled to one of other broadband gateways; and saidfirst communication device and said communication second device are bothassociated with a same network access service provider.
 18. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein: said first communication device isassociated with a first network access service provider; and said secondcommunication device, which is communicatively coupled to said broadbandgateway, is associated with a second network access service provider.19. The system according to claim 11, wherein: said first communicationdevice is associated with a first network access service provider; andsaid second communication device, which is communicatively coupled toone of other broadband gateways, is associated with a second networkaccess service provider.
 20. The system according to claim 11, whereinsaid peer-to-peer communications comprise content sharing, filessharing, video gaming and/or website hosting.